Chapter 38 : Prices in the 1960s

Lu Fangfang asked for the address of the state-owned seed store and took Wang Shufen there.

On the way, Lu Fangfang sold her braids.

Her braids were very long, but the hair quality was a bit bad, so she sold them for a total of 30 cents.

It wasn’t a lot, but it wasn’t too little either. If you were buying meat, you could get three or two taels.

When they arrived at the state-owned seed store, Lu Fangfang took out a piece of paper torn from a notebook and started buying the vegetable seeds one by one according to the words written on it.

Sure enough, the state-owned seed store in the county did not sell all the vegetable seeds, and the two of them ended up only buying most of them.

Seeds like celery, water spinach, and coriander were simply not available in state-owned seed stores.

However, the two also had an unexpected gain. Lu Fangfang found sunflower seeds in the store.

The thought of eating melon seeds made her swallow her saliva.

The melon seeds smelled so good that she craved them every time she thought about them, but it wasn’t easy to buy them in this day and age.

After all, even staple foods were rationed now, so where could you find snacks like melon seeds?

Even in big cities like Shanghai and Beijing, they would only be available during the Chinese New Year. As for small counties in the northwest, Lu Fangfang didn’t expect to be able to buy them at all.

If she wanted to eat melon seeds, it would be better to grow them herself, after all, she had the conditions to do so.

After discussing with Wang Shufen, the two decided to temporarily add sunflower seeds to the vegetable seeds they bought.

In addition, Lu Fangfang also found cosmos seeds in the store.

Seeing that the price was not expensive, she bought some for herself and planned to grow them for fun.

After paying for the seeds, the two walked out of the state-owned seed store.

Wang Shufen looked back and felt a little dissatisfied.

This time when she came to the county town, not only did she fail to buy goose eggs and chicken eggs, but she also didn’t expect that she couldn’t even buy all the vegetable seeds.

“This county is really small. It’s not even as big as the county town where I live. There’s nothing here.”

“Sister Shufen, why don’t we go to the countryside when we have time? Maybe we can buy it there.”

“This is the only way.” Wang Shufen sighed.

However, it was not easy to buy things in the countryside these days. According to regulations, private individuals couldn’t buy and sell things and could only sell them to the government.

If you didn’t know the person, the other party might not be willing to take the risk and sell to you.

Wang Shufen thought of the military wives in the family compound. She wondered if any of them raised geese or ducks. It seemed that she would have to ask around when she returned.

After buying the vegetable seeds, the next thing to do was to buy various farm tools.

The two returned to the department store. Lu Fangfang was quite looking forward to it, but after shopping for a while, she became disappointed.

It was called a department store, but she felt that there might not even be a hundred kinds of goods in the store.

There was no way. The county town was too small. If you wanted to buy something, you still had to go to the department store in the city.

“Sister Shufen, let’s go over and take a look at the shoes.”

When they arrived at a shoe counter, Lu Fangfang pulled Wang Shufen over.

After a careful look, there weren’t many shoes on the counter, and there wasn’t much to choose from. Most of them were yellow rubber shoes.

“Comrade, how much is a pair of size 37 yellow rubber shoes?”

“Three dollars and three cents.”

Lu Fangfang: “…”

My goodness, the price of two pairs of yellow rubber shoes is equivalent to the cow skeleton she just bought.

I have to say that industrial products in this era are really expensive.

Wang Shufen was also shocked when she heard the price of the shoes.

She sewed her own soles and made her own shoes in her hometown, which saved her a lot of money.

“Get me a pair of yellow rubber shoes, size thirty-seven.”

Lu Fangfang suppressed the heartache, counted out three dollars and three cents, and handed it to the salesperson.

There was no way, her shoes were broken, and she had to buy new ones.

After buying the yellow rubber shoes, while passing by the cloth counter, Lu Fangfang hesitated for a long time, touching the cloth coupons, but ultimately decided not to buy anything.

Alas, she has no income right now and was reluctant to spend any more money.

After walking around for a while, Lu Fangfang finally arrived at the place where farm tools were sold. She had no choice but to spend money.

A sickle cost one dollar and sixteen cents.

A hoe cost one dollar and one cent.

A shovel was priced per tool head, and the wooden handle needed to be bought separately.

Compared to yellow rubber shoes, the prices of these farm tools were relatively cheap.

Anyway, after purchasing, Lu Fangfang felt very distressed. She had already spent thirteen yuan on this trip to the county town, which was seriously over budget. Among the things she bought, the vegetable seeds were the cheapest.

Holding a few farm tools, she didn’t spend any more money.

After strolling for a while, the two decided to go back.

She hadn’t noticed it while she was shopping, but when she walked out of the department store, she realized it was getting late.

She checked the time; it was exactly eleven o’clock.

As the two walked back, their sister-in-law was already waiting for them in the military vehicle. They hurriedly moved the newly purchased farm tools onto the vehicle.

When Sun Manling saw them returning, she stood up and prepared to help.

Seeing what the two had bought, she was a little surprised. “Sister Shufen, Fangfang, you bought so many farm tools. Are you planning to open up land and plant crops?”

As soon as Sun Manling said this, the other sisters-in-law looked over curiously.

“Well, Fangfang and I plan to open up some land and plant a few things.”

Wang Shufen nodded, not caring about what others thought.

With her husband’s salary as a political commissar, he could easily support his family and save a few hundred yuan every year.

But she didn’t want to just sit around doing nothing; she wanted to do something on her own.

At this time, another military wife in the car asked, “Sister-in-law, aren’t you tired? How nice it is to look after the children in the family compound.”

“Well, my daughter and son are grown up, so I don’t need to watch over them every day. I just enjoy the harvest season.”

Wang Shufen smiled innocently and didn’t say anything more.

Beside her, Lu Fangfang nodded in agreement.

She also wanted to find something to do; otherwise, she would be bored to death staying in the staff quarters all day.

Of course, it was also to make some money.

The two of them put away the farm tools and waited in the car for the soldier’s wife who had not arrived yet.

Lu Fangfang sat in the car, exposed to the sun, and soon felt sleepy.

Just as she was about to fall asleep, she suddenly heard a scream in her ear, “Oh my God!”

“What…what is this? Who bought this? I’m almost scared to death.”

The long-faced sister-in-law, who had just climbed onto the military vehicle, looked at the cow spine, which was as tall as a person, with a look of disgust.

Seeing such a big bone, covered with red blood, she was shocked when she climbed up just now.

After taking a closer look, she said unhappily, “What a spendthrift! Have you never chewed a bone since you were born? You bought so much. Can you eat it all? Aren’t you afraid it will go bad?”

“Sister Shulan, there’s more than just one spine in the car. Look at the sack in the corner. It’s full of bones too.”

Li Shulan turned her head and saw a bulging sack.

She looked at the sack, then at the spine that was as tall as a person, then looked back at the sack, and then at the spine again, completely dumbfounded.

Buying so much at once, was she buying it for the group?

Thinking of what she just said, she quickly added, “Ahem, the bones are cheap and don’t require a ticket. The person who bought them is really thrifty. These bones are the most delicious when chewed. I love chewing bones.”